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Elastic Docs ›Filebeat Reference [7.4] ›Setting up and running Filebeat

Filebeat command reference

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Filebeat command reference

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Filebeat provides a command-line interface for starting Filebeat and performing common tasks, like testing configuration files and loading dashboards.

The command-line also supports global flags for controlling global behaviors.

Use sudo to run the following commands if:

  • the config file is owned by root, or
  • Filebeat is configured to capture data that requires root access

Some of the features described here require an Elastic license. For more information, see https://www.elastic.co/subscriptions and License Management.

Commands

export

Exports the configuration, index template, ILM policy, or a dashboard to stdout.

help

Shows help for any command.

keystore

Manages the secrets keystore.

modules

Manages configured modules.

run

Runs Filebeat. This command is used by default if you start Filebeat without specifying a command.

setup

Sets up the initial environment, including the index template, ILM policy and write alias, Kibana dashboards (when available), and machine learning jobs (when available).

test

Tests the configuration.

version

Shows information about the current version.

Also see Global flags.

export command

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Exports the configuration, index template, ILM policy, or a dashboard to stdout. You can use this command to quickly view your configuration, see the contents of the index template and the ILM policy, or export a dashboard from Kibana.

SYNOPSIS

filebeat export SUBCOMMAND [FLAGS]

SUBCOMMANDS

config
Exports the current configuration to stdout. If you use the -c flag, this command exports the configuration that’s defined in the specified file.
dashboard

Exports a dashboard. You can use this option to store a dashboard on disk in a module and load it automatically. For example, to export the dashboard to a JSON file, run: 

filebeat export dashboard --id="DASHBOARD_ID" > dashboard.json

To find the DASHBOARD_ID, look at the URL for the dashboard in Kibana. By default, export dashboard writes the dashboard to stdout. The example shows how to write the dashboard to a JSON file so that you can import it later. The JSON file will contain the dashboard with all visualizations and searches. You must load the index pattern separately for Filebeat.

To load the dashboard, copy the generated dashboard.json file into the kibana/6/dashboard directory of Filebeat, and run filebeat setup --dashboards to import the dashboard.

If Kibana is not running on localhost:5061, you must also adjust the Filebeat configuration under setup.kibana.

template
Exports the index template to stdout. You can specify the --es.version and --index flags to further define what gets exported. Furthermore you can export the template to a file instead of stdout by defining a directory via --dir.
ilm-policy
Exports the index lifecycle management policy to stdout. You can specify the --es.version and a --dir to which the policy should be exported as a file rather than exporting to stdout.

FLAGS

--es.version VERSION
When used with template, exports an index template that is compatible with the specified version. When used with ilm-policy, exports the ILM policy if the specified ES version is enabled for ILM.
-h, --help
Shows help for the export command.
--index BASE_NAME
When used with template, sets the base name to use for the index template. If this flag is not specified, the default base name is filebeat.
--dir DIRNAME
Define a directory to which the template and ILM policy should be exported to as files instead of printing them to stdout.
--id DASHBOARD_ID
When used with dashboard, specifies the dashboard ID.

Also see Global flags.

EXAMPLES

filebeat export config
filebeat export template --es.version 7.4.2 --index myindexname
filebeat export dashboard --id="a7b35890-8baa-11e8-9676-ef67484126fb" > dashboard.json

help command

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Shows help for any command. If no command is specified, shows help for the run command.

SYNOPSIS

filebeat help COMMAND_NAME [FLAGS]
COMMAND_NAME
Specifies the name of the command to show help for.

FLAGS

-h, --help
Shows help for the help command.

Also see Global flags.

EXAMPLE

filebeat help export

keystore command

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Manages the secrets keystore.

SYNOPSIS

filebeat keystore SUBCOMMAND [FLAGS]

SUBCOMMANDS

add KEY
Adds the specified key to the keystore. Use the --force flag to overwrite an existing key. Use the --stdin flag to pass the value through stdin.
create
Creates a keystore to hold secrets. Use the --force flag to overwrite the existing keystore.
list
Lists the keys in the keystore.
remove KEY
Removes the specified key from the keystore.

FLAGS

--force
Valid with the add and create subcommands. When used with add, overwrites the specified key. When used with create, overwrites the keystore.
--stdin
When used with add, uses the stdin as the source of the key’s value.
-h, --help
Shows help for the keystore command.

Also see Global flags.

EXAMPLES

filebeat keystore create
filebeat keystore add ES_PWD
filebeat keystore remove ES_PWD
filebeat keystore list

See Secrets keystore for more examples.

modules command

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Manages configured modules. You can use this command to enable and disable specific module configurations defined in the modules.d directory. The changes you make with this command are persisted and used for subsequent runs of Filebeat.

To see which modules are enabled and disabled, run the list subcommand.

SYNOPSIS

filebeat modules SUBCOMMAND [FLAGS]

SUBCOMMANDS

disable MODULE_LIST
Disables the modules specified in the space-separated list.
enable MODULE_LIST
Enables the modules specified in the space-separated list.
list
Lists the modules that are currently enabled and disabled.

FLAGS

-h, --help
Shows help for the export command.

Also see Global flags.

EXAMPLES

filebeat modules list
filebeat modules enable apache2 auditd mysql

run command

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Runs Filebeat. This command is used by default if you start Filebeat without specifying a command.

SYNOPSIS

filebeat run [FLAGS]

Or:

filebeat [FLAGS]

FLAGS

-N, --N
Disables publishing for testing purposes. This option disables all outputs except the File output.
--cpuprofile FILE
Writes CPU profile data to the specified file. This option is useful for troubleshooting Filebeat.
-h, --help
Shows help for the run command.
--httpprof [HOST]:PORT
Starts an http server for profiling. This option is useful for troubleshooting and profiling Filebeat.
--memprofile FILE
Writes memory profile data to the specified output file. This option is useful for troubleshooting Filebeat.
--modules MODULE_LIST

Specifies a comma-separated list of modules to run. For example: 

filebeat run --modules nginx,mysql,system

Rather than specifying the list of modules every time you run Filebeat, you can use the modules command to enable and disable specific modules. Then when you run Filebeat, it will run any modules that are enabled.

--once
When the --once flag is used, Filebeat starts all configured harvesters and inputs, and runs each input until the harvesters are closed. If you set the --once flag, you should also set close_eof so the harvester is closed when the end of the file is reached. By default harvesters are closed after close_inactive is reached.

Also see Global flags.

EXAMPLE

filebeat run -e

Or:

filebeat -e

setup command

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Sets up the initial environment, including the index template, ILM policy and write alias, Kibana dashboards (when available), and machine learning jobs (when available)

  • The index template ensures that fields are mapped correctly in Elasticsearch. If index lifecycle management is enabled it also ensures that the defined ILM policy and write alias are connected to the indices matching the index template. The ILM policy takes care of the lifecycle of an index, when to do a rollover, when to move an index from the hot phase to the next phase, etc.
  • The Kibana dashboards make it easier for you to visualize Filebeat data in Kibana.
  • The machine learning jobs contain the configuration information and metadata necessary to analyze data for anomalies.

This command sets up the environment without actually running Filebeat and ingesting data.

SYNOPSIS

filebeat setup [FLAGS]

FLAGS

--dashboards
Sets up the Kibana dashboards (when available). This option loads the dashboards from the Filebeat package. For more options, such as loading customized dashboards, see Importing Existing Beat Dashboards in the Beats Developer Guide.
-h, --help
Shows help for the setup command.
--machine-learning
Sets up machine learning job configurations only.
--modules MODULE_LIST
Specifies a comma-separated list of modules. Use this flag to avoid errors when there are no modules defined in the filebeat.yml file.
--pipelines
Sets up ingest pipelines for configured filesets. Filebeat looks for enabled modules in the filebeat.yml file. If you used the modules command to enable modules in the modules.d directory, also specify the --modules flag.
--index-management
Sets up components related to Elasticsearch index management including template, ILM policy, and write alias (if supported and configured).
--template
[7.2] Deprecated in 7.2. Sets up the index template only. It is recommended to use --index-management instead.
--ilm-policy
[7.2] Deprecated in 7.2. Sets up the index lifecycle management policy. It is recommended to use --index-management instead.

Also see Global flags.

EXAMPLES

filebeat setup --dashboards
filebeat setup --machine-learning
filebeat setup --pipelines
filebeat setup --pipelines --modules system,nginx,mysql 
filebeat setup --index-management

If you used the modules command to enable modules in the modules.d directory, also specify the --modules flag to indicate which modules to load pipelines for.

test command

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Tests the configuration.

SYNOPSIS

filebeat test SUBCOMMAND [FLAGS]

SUBCOMMANDS

config
Tests the configuration settings.
output
Tests that Filebeat can connect to the output by using the current settings.

FLAGS

-h, --help
Shows help for the test command.

Also see Global flags.

EXAMPLE

filebeat test config

version command

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Shows information about the current version.

SYNOPSIS

filebeat version [FLAGS]

FLAGS

-h, --help
Shows help for the version command.

Also see Global flags.

EXAMPLE

filebeat version

Global flags

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These global flags are available whenever you run Filebeat.

-E, --E "SETTING_NAME=VALUE"

Overrides a specific configuration setting. You can specify multiple overrides. For example: 

filebeat -E "name=mybeat" -E "output.elasticsearch.hosts=['http://myhost:9200']"

This setting is applied to the currently running Filebeat process. The Filebeat configuration file is not changed.

-M, --M "VAR_NAME=VALUE"

Overrides the default configuration for a Filebeat module. You can specify multiple variable overrides. For example: 

filebeat -modules=nginx -M "nginx.access.var.paths=['/var/log/nginx/access.log*']" -M "nginx.access.var.pipeline=no_plugins"
-c, --c FILE
Specifies the configuration file to use for Filebeat. The file you specify here is relative to path.config. If the -c flag is not specified, the default config file, filebeat.yml, is used.
-d, --d SELECTORS
Enables debugging for the specified selectors. For the selectors, you can specify a comma-separated list of components, or you can use -d "*" to enable debugging for all components. For example, -d "publish" displays all the "publish" related messages.
-e, --e
Logs to stderr and disables syslog/file output.
--path.config
Sets the path for configuration files. See the Directory layout section for details.
--path.data
Sets the path for data files. See the Directory layout section for details.
--path.home
Sets the path for miscellaneous files. See the Directory layout section for details.
--path.logs
Sets the path for log files. See the Directory layout section for details.
--strict.perms
Sets strict permission checking on configuration files. The default is -strict.perms=true. See Config file ownership and permissions in the Beats Platform Reference for more information.
-v, --v
Logs INFO-level messages.
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